Teaching is Learning

In my earlier blog I described the journey. This one will be like a checklist of various spotting during the field herpetology workshop of 8-9 September with Vipul and Catherene of Bike n Hike . During night hours, looking around for more than half an hour, we had our first found - Fan throated lizard (Sitana Ponticeriana) male. This are called so because of the fan like structure in throat, which they use to attract female and also to express their agitation when disturbed. The one we spotted was basking and did not have the throat fanned! I could not click this; however, below is the image I created during Thol cleaning drive on 10th June 2012, in which we collected some 100 + kgs of garbage !! Fan throated lizard: Spotted this in Thol, during cleaning drive Moving on, our second spotting was Lepord Gecko (Spotter: Catherene ). This one was adult female and later on we could also spot an adult male. This is was my first chance to see live gecko; interestingly, it...

Ever wonder how many species of snakes are there in India? Of them, how many have been recorded in Gujarat?? have you ever been curious as to how to ensure the sex of a snake?? Which animals are reptiles beyond a frog, snake and lizard??...Well, most of us do not ask these questions too frequently to ourselves..We are not herpers, after all!!! I thought of giving it a try after a few nature/wildlife photography workshops and went on to attend my first field herpetology workshop with  Bike n Hike on 8-9 September 2012. Herpetology, for the non-herpers- is study of reptiles. Reptiles in Gujarati are called સરીસૃપ and includes turtles, frogs, salamander, snakes, lizards etc. Source: http://commons.wikivet.net/images/thumb/c/c2/Lizard_taxa.JPG/400px-Lizard_taxa.JPG Journey Window to the world To adjust my interests within budget, I opted to travel by local train to our base i.e. Thangadh. The adventure started from the station itself as I reached to Sabarmati station from the Dharamn...